I Don't Want to Talk About It or Potential Lost

The radio plays constantly at work.  Today a song came on that caught my attention because I knew it but didn't know this version (which, as it turns out may have been the all-time most popular). 
I did some quick research when I got home.

The song on the radio was Rod Stewart's cover of "I Don't Want to Talk About It."  I've only ever known it by the Indigo Girls' cover version - which, btw, remains my favorite even after listening to the original and a handful of covers, all of which are remarkable good. 

In my research I learned several things I never knew.  I have some Neil Young album from his early days. I don't remember the name and don't want to go digging it out but I seem to remember some of the songs on it, such as "Cowgirl in the Sand" and "Sugar Mountain."  I also knew that Crazy Horse had been Young's back-up band for a time.   

What I learned was that Crazy Horse first recorded "I Don't Want to Talk About It" in 1971.  Danny Whitten, their lead guitarist, had written it and sang lead.  Whitten, it seems, was a fantastic guitarist and obviously from this moving song, a very talented songwriter but he threw it all away with his involvement with heroine.  He died of an overdose in the fall of 1972 but even before that, he lost his ability to function reliably, lost his friends and lost income.  Such potential, all lost. 

Rod Stewart made a hit of this song twice, once in 1975 and again in 1989.  Rita Cooleridge did a lovely version in 1977. The Indigo Girls released their cover in 1996.  In 2004 Rod Stewart did a live duet version with the Scottish singer Amy Belle and Belle, in turn, released her own solo cover sometime later.

Even lost potential can have a legacy. 

Here are the lyrics:

I can tell by your eyes that you've probably been crying forever,
And the stars in the sky don't mean nothing to you, they're a mirror.
I don't want to talk about it, how you broke my heart.
If I stay here just a little bit longer,
If I stay here, won't you listen to my heart, oh my heart?

If I stand all alone, will the shadow hide the color of my heart;
Blue for the tears, black for the night's fears.
The star in the sky don't mean nothing to you, they're a mirror.
I don't want to talk about it, how you broke my heart.
If I stay here just a little bit longer,
If I stay here, won't you listen to my heart, oh my heart?
My heart, oh my heart, this old heart.

I don't want to talk about it, how you broke my heart
If I stay here just a little bit longer,
If I stay here, won't you listen to my heart, oh my heart?
My heart, oh my heart.

Here are the songs via youtube :

Crazy Horse / Danny Whitten 1971

Rod Stewart 

Rita Coolidge

Amy Belle

Rod Stewart/Amy Belle

Indigo Girls (my pick)

Great song 

I believe Everything but the Girl also recorded it

Thanks. I'm sure there are a lot of covers. In my quick foraging, I just found these to be  significant.  

Do you like Aldous Harding @batgirl?

I had never heard of Aldous Harding so I listened to about a half dozen of her songs.  I wasn't crazy about them as a whole, though I liked Fixture Picture and Stop Your Tears more than the others I experienced

Oddly, at first I read Aldous Huxley and thought immediately of Sheryl Crow's Run, Baby, Run and  November 1963, the day Alduos Huxley died,  then I looked up Aldous Harding when I got my head on straight.

"The Needle and the Damage Done" is my all time favorite, I think if I look, I have all his Albums (most played the few times I cut a cassette tape off of them) and most on CD/DVD. I love the lyrics of all his songs though, their meaning is really something I can identify with,

More versions at:

https://secondhandsongs.com/work/10825/versions

What a nice site!

One measure of the appeal of a song might be in how many artists want to record it.

It also highlights the potential lost. 

Thanks.

"Decade" - album compilation of Neil Young's greatest hits from the 1970's.....contains 'Sugar Mountain' and 'Cowgirl In The Sand'...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0dD0EjPeQ4&list=PLyFYUu1n4_w-sHBuwFMnO00FQ84yyArgf&index=6

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6GyzspbuPU&list=PLyFYUu1n4_w-sHBuwFMnO00FQ84yyArgf&index=12

only heard the rod version.  1 of my faves.  always thought it was his original.

great songs

You're welcome. Great site indeed, and thank you for remembering this song, I haven't heard it in a while.

Thanks batgirl, I keep my shovel handy for moments like these when I need to bury the pain again.

Indigo girls version sounds quite harsh I thought, perhaps its the harsh realities of digital v the warm fuzziness of analogue? but yeah I had no idea it was written by Danny Whitten.  Stewart has done a lot of awesome stuff from his time in the Faces and with the Jeff Beck Group right into his solo career.  He has a great version of Jimi Hendrix Angel.  

keep it together man!

We keep it together by falling apart

but it was the kiss that took me away

its like he knew that I am fragile

handled me like glass

and knowing this I know that he'll get his

but I don't want the man to suffer

not the way I am

because deep down I know that he's glass too

but it really doesn't matter

until its happening to you

everybody breaks

sometimes

https://soundcloud.com/the-leftovers-3/glass-cover

I really don't care